A New Hope on the Horizon
by SprouseGoose
Summary: The events of May 1, 2011 cause the students of Seven Seas High remember the past and look ahead to the future.


_I don't own these characters, but it would be nice if I did. _

_Anyways, I do promise to keep them true to themselves._

It was the first day of May, and the S.S. Tipton was making its way towards the Panama Canal to begins its final voyage home for the graduating class of 2011. As it was a Sunday night, the students were all taking it easy, resting up to begin one of their final weeks of their senior years. Two of these seniors, Cody Martin and Bailey Pickett has just finished a romantic dinner for two and were beginning a leisurely stroll around the deck. Little did they know that their lives and the world was about to change.

Bailey sighed in contentment. "Hasn't this just been a perfect evening, Cody?"

Cody smiled at her. "In my book, every evening with you is perfect."

Bailey smiled back at him. "Thank you, Sweetie." She reached down and squeezed his hand tighter.

"Anytime, I..." But before Cody could finish, he could feel his cell phone vibrating in his pocket. "Excuse me, its probably Woody telling me he lost his key to the cabin again."

Bailey smiled. "How many has he gone through in three years?"

Cody sighed as he fished out his cell phone. "I've lost track.." He pulled out his cell phone to see what the interruption was. And when he saw what it was, his eyes went wide. "Oh my gosh!"

Bailey looked at him with concern. "What is it, Sweetie?"

Cody looked up at her and showed her his phone. Bailey's eyes went wide too. "Oh my gosh!" She looked back up at Cody. "This is huge!"

Cody nodded. "I know...A day we'll remember for the rest of out lives." He paused. "Hey, there is a TV up in the Aqua Lounge. Let's go up there and see what all we can find out..."

Bailey quickly agreed. "Good idea. Lets go!"

Both hurried as quick as they could to the Aqua Lounge. And neither was surprised to find Maya, Zack, Woody, Addison and London all sitting around the TV watching a baseball game. And when they got there, Zack looked up and saw his brother.

"Hey, Codester...Get a load of this. For some reason, the crown in Philadelphia is chanting 'USA, USA'. I thought Philly fans were the ones who pelted Santa Claus with snowballs."

Cody sighed. "I think I know why they are cheering. Mind if we change the channel?"

The others shrugged, and Cody knelt down to change the channel over to CNN. And that's when everyone ready the headline – Osama Bin Laden Killed. Everyone's eyes went wide when they saw the headline.

Maya sunk back into the couch. "Its about time. I hope that SOB burns in hell for what he did to New York City!"

While Cody had been changing the channel, Bailey had went to drag over two seats for them. But she was back in time to hear what Maya said.

"I agree. And for what happened to the Pentagon and to rural Pennsylvania as well."

Cody paused. "Can you believe that's almost been ten years ago that happened?"

Maya shook her head. "I remember it like it was yesterday. My class had been to a field trip to the twin towers the week before. If it had been one week later..."

Zack turned and looked at his girlfriend in surprise. "Really?"

Maya could only nod. Zack reached over and gently rubbed her back. "I'm glad it wasn't a week later."

"It was bad enough as it was. There was complete chaos, and as an eight year old, I was terrified. My school at the time was not close, but everything was crazy. School was immediately called off, but they wouldn't let anyone go unless a parent or family member was there to officially sign us out. Fortunately, my Mom got there fairly quickly and got me home. But I was lucky. Several of the people I went to school with weren't though. A lot of them lost parents or other relatives. New York City took a major hit that day. But, we're New Yorkers. We're as tough as they come. You may knock us down, but we'll get right back up. And we get even. It may have taken ten years, but we finally got the guy responsible..."

Everyone else was kind of silent taking in what Maya said. Cody finally spoke up.

"I remember that day too. We were still living in Seattle at the time. By the time we got to school, everything had already happened. We spent all morning just watching everything on TV."

Zack paused. "Didn't they send us home early that day?"

Cody nodded. "Yeah. There was concern that more big cities would be targets, so Seattle pretty much closed down after that. There was concern the Space Needle would be a target. We went back to Grandma's house and continued watching it there."

Addison nodded. "Same way in Chicago. There was a huge fear that the Sear's Tower could be a target as well."

"In Cleveland too. In fact, they say that the one that crashed in Pennsylvania was almost in Cleveland when the hijackers took over and began doubling back."

London paused. "Yeah, Boston got really weird too. Especially around the airport."

Cody spoke up. "Well, Logan International is where the two planes that crashed into the towers took off from. Ever since we got to Boston, I've always felt uneasy flying in and out of Logan..."

Bailey gently rubbed his back. "That's understandable, Sweetie. I imagine it would be very surreal."

Cody smiled at Bailey. "What about you, Bailey? What do you remember from that day?"

"Well, we didn't have TVs at school, so we didn't know anything until we got home that day. But when we did, I couldn't tear myself away from the TV. Grammy kept mentioning how it reminded her of Pearl Harbor."

Cody nodded. "I imagine so. In many ways, this was our generation's Pearl Harbor. Its the seminal event they we will all remember where we were for the rest of our lives. For some, it was Pearl Harbor, and for others, it was JFK's Assassination."

"You're right...And you know what's weird? Adolf Hitler's death was announced on May 1. And on May 1 again, Osama Bin Laden's death was announced."

Zack frowned. "Really? That is weird..."

Woody turned to everyone. "So, what do you think this means?"

Zack shrugged. "Well, we cut off the head of the snake, the rest should die."

Cody shook his head. "I don't know about all of that..."

Bailey nodded. "Cody's right. You think the terrorists are just going to say 'Okay, we're done. You guys win'? Of course they aren't. I wouldn't be surprised if they weren't plotting their retaliation as we speak."

Addison turned to Bailey. "What do you think they'll do?"

"Well, they'll probably try to strike back at Americans overseas..."

Cody paused. "Just like us..."

Everyone quickly turned and stared at Cody.

Woody was a little nervous. "You think they would do something to us?"

Cody shrugged. "I don't know. We are an American ship..."

London spoke up. "Actually, its registered in the Bahamas...tax purposes."

Bailey turned to Cody. "Still though...I'm kind of worried now."

Cody wrapped his arm around her. "Me too. I don't think I'll ever be so happy to be in New York when we get there..."

Everyone attention was diverted by an announcement on the TV.

"_Its been reported now that the operation was carried out by a small group of Navy Seals. The actual gunfire lasted only 3-5 minutes. Four men and one woman are known dead, and the woman was used as a human shield. Osama bin Laden's body is in American hands. He was given Islamic rites and buried at sea in the Arabian Sea. Stay tuned for more up to date information."_

Zack shook his head. "Burial at sea? Why would they do that?"

Maya nodded. "I agree. I say bring him to New York and turn him into a pinata!"

Addison spoke up. "Or set his body up for people to spit at like they did with Mussolini."

Bailey shook her head. "That would be a bad idea. Muslim tradition says that a body has to be buried within 24 hours. The US is already unpopular as it is. We don't want to tick off the actual people in that region who know we did what we had to do."

Cody continued. "And burial at sea is the best idea. That way, there's no grave for people to make pilgrimages too. His body will forever be lost...and if we're lucky, shark food."

Maya paused. "That actually does make sense."

Zack sighed. "I know. But can you imagine those Navy Seals though? Imagine the rush to be the one who put a bullet in his head. I'd like to find out that guy's name and shake his hand. A lot of people would."

Bailey winced. "No offense, but that would be the worst thing that could happen. If their identities were revealed, what would stop a terrorist from slipping into this country and murdering those brave soldiers' families?"

"That's true too. I wouldn't want them to suffer for defending our country..." Zack paused. "Maybe I should try to become a Seal?"

Cody looked at his brother. "You do know the Seals, short for Sea, Air and Land, are the best of the best of the best. And the ones who were on this mission were probably the best of them."

Zack looked offended. "You saying I can't do it?"

Cody shook his head. "No, not at all. But, you are my brother. And if you were off on some dangerous, I'd be worried about you."

Zack smiled. "Thanks, Man."

Cody smiled back. "Anyways, can I be there when you tell Mom your idea?"

Zack paused. "She'd flip out and start crying..."

"And I'm pretty sure you'd get a 'my little man' appearance..."

Zack shuddered. "That would be a given..."

Maya turned to them. "So, what do you think comes next?"

Bailey paused. "Well, someone is the new #1. Probably go after him next. Plus, we'll go through all the information we find there and see what it tells us..."

Woody nodded. "Think we'll ever get to a day when we don't have to worry about terrorists?"

Bailey shook her head. "I don't know. I'd like to hope so though."

Cody took her hand and smiled. "Me too. I'd like to picture a safer world for our children to grow up and live in."

Bailey smiled back at him. "Me too. Hopefully tonight is the beginning of making that a reality."

_The End._


End file.
